Sony recently added the ability to dim the DualShock 4’s lightbar in Firmware v1.70, but you cannot turn it off completely. The reason for this was unknown, until now that is. Speaking to TechRadar, SCEE Senior Designer Jed Ashforth revealed that the controller’s lightbar is required for Project Morpheus.

“The tracking light… it was our department that said we need that on,” said Ashforth. “It was for tracking for VR.”

“And when all these things were coming out six months ago and everyone was going ‘it’s reflecting in my TV,’ we were going ‘oh no’ because we couldn’t tell anyone what it was for.”

The lightbar is used to track the position of the controller, which together with the head tracking technology in Project Morpheus, will make an even better VR experience for gamers.